[Solved] Corruption of data

[Picca]

My spreadsheet has 12 sheets, 1 for each month. When I reopen after having saved, some months are corrupted while others are intact. In the corrupted sheets, the rows have stretched and some of the data has moved to other cells and some has disappeared. Coloured text has reverted to black. After reconstructing the sheet and saving, the next time I open, different or some of the same sheets are corrupted. I have been using this spreadsheet without incident for 3 years. What has happened?

[Zizi64]

What file type are you using? Always use the native, international standard ODF file formats when you work with the Apache OpenOffice or the LibreOffice.

[Picca]

What file type are you using? Always use the native, international standard ODF file formats when you work with the Apache OpenOffice or the LibreOffice.

I always save in ODF.

[Picca]

Saved file appears again as Open Office Calc. Saved icon has the sufifx ods.

[Zizi64]

Always create time stamped backup copies of your important documents.

https://extensions.libreoffice.org/exte ... amp-backup

Note : I never tried it on a Mac.

[Picca]

Previous versions are automatically created. They too will be corrupted if I try to use them.

[Zizi64]

Can you upload one (or two) sample file here?

[Picca]

The only way I can share the files is to save them in PDF. Will that help?

[Zizi64]

The only way I can share the files is to save them in PDF. Will that help?

Maybe. But I think it will not be enough...

[Picca]

The PDF file although it is not interactive, would show the appearance of the corruption. Would that help? If so, how do I upload onto this message?

[Zizi64]

would show the appearance of the corruption.

Yes, it can show the appearance. But but can not show the reasons.

Please upload something, and I (we) will try to help you.

Note: the file size limit is 128 KiB in this forum. Use the Post reply (but not the Quick reply) button, and then use the "Upload attachment" TAB below the message edit box.

[Picca]

I thought I uploaded 2 images from the POST replybutton but I don't see them. I dragged and dropped but I didn't see an attachment tab anywhere. What did I do wrong. Forgive me but I'm not very computer savvy.

[Zizi64]

I dragged and dropped but I didn't see an attachment tab anywhere.

DO NOT drag & drop the picture. Browse the image file name with the relevant funtions on the TAB "Upload attachment".

Optimize the pictures with a third party image editor before you upload them here. Use 256 bit colour depth, and .png filetype.

[Hagar Delest]

I thought I uploaded 2 images from the POST replybutton but I don't see them.

See How to attach a document here.

[Picca]

mildly corupted.pdf

(24.12 KiB) Downloaded 62 times

corupt sheet.pdf

(22.13 KiB) Downloaded 73 times

I could only save as pdf so you have static images. The grid lines don't show. I should mention another corruption. When adding data to a cell, the grid has been outlined in red. In this subsequent version they changed to blue although you can't see the grid lines. Also, a flag comes up when the curser lands on any cell that has had action to give its history of all the action that has been taken in that cell with my name, date, time and what the action was. In the corrupt version everything has reverted to black.

[Zizi64]

I do not know what happened with the cells and columns in your file.

Please upload real .ods files here. Maybe the examining of the styles will give us some answers about the problem.

[RoryOF]

I agree - a real .ods file will be helpful.

[Picca]

I can only capture the whole file. I don't know how to get just 1 sheet at a time. Nor can I delete the superfluous sheets. This version has changed the red cell outline to blue. The blue rows are deliberate to distinguish groups.

corrupt file 1.ods

(104.1 KiB) Downloaded 78 times

[Zizi64]

The 'Track changes' function is switched on in your document. When and why did you switched it on?

[Picca]

I can't recall ever even seeing that in the menu. But I just checked it in the Edit menu, turned it off and the appearance reverted to normal - all the red cell borders gone and the history flags disappeared. Is this going to be the end of the crashes? Thanks for this.

[Zizi64]

Is this going to be the end of the crashes?

I do not know it. Try to use your file - the time will decide if the problem is solved or not.
The 'Track changes' is a very useful function, but - if you switched ON accidentally, and you can not recognise it - it can occur such strange behaviors.

But it may be that the "switched on" state is not a "cause" but it is an "effect".
If your
- document, or
- office software, or
- user profile, or
- HDD, or
- system memory, or
- some keyboard keys, or
- other component
is damaged, then the problem will be raised again.